2014 ToB: The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Rating: 3 (only because it was interesting enough to listen via audio)
The Signature of All Things
A Novel by Elizabeth Gilbert

2013 /22 hours 44 minutes (audio book)
Narrated by Juliette Stevenson

When you know you have disliked an authors previous novel can you close your mind to the reading experience from that book?  In my case, I tried.  I simply loathed Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir, Eat Pray Love.  As much as I tried to keep an open mind, The Signature of All Things just did not do it for me either.  I will give it to Gilbert though, she did write a story that held my interest long enough to have me read it to the end and not send it back to Audible requesting my money back.  That said, I would have never made it through the written edition.

2014 ToB: How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid

Rating: 4 (maybe 4.5, still thinking)
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia
A Novel by Mohsin Hamid

2013 /138 pages (ebook)

I first heard of How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia when researching titles for Man Booker hopefuls.  Many readers on some of the Booker forums were leaning heavily on the inclusion of "Filthy Rich".  After finishing the book, I can see why and I am glad to see that although it was overlooked for the Booker this year it will get some love during the Tournament of Books.

2014 Tournament of Books - The Tenth Anniversary

On Monday, The Morning News, an online news website, announced the books and judges for the 2014 Tournament of Books.  This years tournament will be known as ToBX to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the pinnacle of all book awards.

What is the Tournament of Books?  The ToB is the March Madness of Literary Fiction.  To understand the concept, one must first understand March Madness.  If one follows sports regularly, they will immediately understand the concept.  For those of us who don't follow sports or basketball, March Madness is a term used to describe the NCAA Basketball tournament.  Annually, the NCAA chooses the “best” collegiate basketball teams to face off in a single elimination basketball tournament (in 2013 there were 68 teams selected).  The tournament generally gets started the first weekend in early March and at one time finished in March as well (it now lingers into April).  The winners each weekend progress to the next and so on an so forth until there is only one team left unbeaten and declared the winner.  The teams either earn a spot in the tournament or they are chosen.  Those earning a spot do so with an exceptional record for the year or because they won their season ending conference tournament. Some are "chosen" based on some unknown to me criteria - those are typically the teams with weaker records that the NCAA deems worthy enough to make it, yet are typically trounced by the stronger teams.